For parents and others involved in raising children, nothing even comes close to the importance placed on ensuring the child's safety at all times, day and night. This notion is perhaps best demonstrated in the safety precautions taken while traveling in an automobile. By law, small children are to be placed in safety seats at all times while traveling in an automobile. Various types of child car seats and restraints exist to reduce the risk of injury to a child in the event of a vehicle accident or similar event which can occur while driving. While car seats provide the best safety for the child that technology can provide, these seats lack any entertainment or amusement for the child. In fact, the immobilization of the child may cause temper tantrums, crying, whining and the like, much to the dismay of the driver or fellow passengers.
Devices have attempted to provide entertainment and amusement to children while riding in a vehicle. These attempts can be seen by example is several U.S. patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,147,109, issued in the name of Jolly, which describes a car seat with an audible reproduction mechanism mounted within a base portion; 5,482,352, issued in the name of Leal et al., which describes a child seat with a compartment for carrying an audio source; 5,624,156, issued in the name of Leal et al., which describes a child safety seat with entertainment system having speakers and an audio source; and 7,039,207, issued in the name of Elrod et al., which describes an entertainment and pacification system for a car seat having speakers, audio sources, and an anti-noise audio system.
Additionally, ornamental designs for child seats exist, particularly, U.S. Pat. Nos. D 483,576, issued in the name of Kassai et al.; D 487,640, issued in the name of Chen; and D 537,640, issued in the name of Spence et al. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these attempts fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each suffers from one or more of the disadvantages or deficiencies. Accordingly, there is a need for a means by which infants and children placed in car seats can be provided with a means to entertain, amuse, and soothe them. The development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.